


Kellam's Daily Routine

by Karyra



Category: Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: Fluff, Gen, I feel as though I'm forgetting someone... in the character tags..., Tharja curses a certain someone, and we see what exactly he does in a boring day off in the army
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-28
Updated: 2020-02-12
Packaged: 2021-01-05 20:51:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 4,873
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21214898
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Karyra/pseuds/Karyra
Summary: For one whole day, she was going to make Kellam visible to everyone. And he was going to be miserable.





	1. Sully. Mornings. Cooking.

Tharja hovered over her brew, carefully examining it. Today was the day. She was going to make Kellam pay for... well he did something she just couldn’t remember what. But by the Gods she was going to make him pay for it.

For one whole day, she was going to make Kellam visible to everyone. And he was going to be  _ miserable. _

✦✦✦

By the time Kellam was awake, Frederick would be in the middle of his morning routine. Kellam rubbed his eyes and dressed quickly. He picked up a notebook and flipped through it. On it, there were names, times, and actions. Some of them were somewhat indecipherable from ‘birds’ to ‘tea’. Nodding to himself, Kellam seemed to have settled on something and tucked the small notebook away.

He stretched and walked out of his tent. Across the way was Chrom’s, notably larger and slightly nicer than the others. Mainly because Frederick was insistent on such things. Kellam repressed the memory of the recruitment posters featuring Chrom in order to not burst out laughing. Given how early it was in the morning, only Donnel might be awake, and that was more being born on a farm than anything else. Even if nobody heard him laugh, it was better to act as if they might hear him this early in the morning.

Kellam’s reason for being up this early had little to do with his farmer upbringing, and more to do with the tasks he had to do this morning.

Grabbing a small sack of seeds set up in the kitchen for this purpose, Kellam walked behind the tent and waited. The birds from Chrom’s tent usually tried to set up somewhere close again when Frederick walked away, but Kellam had figured that they were just hungry.

He scattered the seeds by his feet and waited.

A flock of birds flew in, and landed nearby. They glanced nervously between the seeds and Kellam. After a moment, their hunger won out and they settled in fairly close.

“Heh, must be a little more skittish this morning,” Kellam said aloud. He threw out some extra seed and then started his next task.

He hadn’t noticed the birds scatter when he turned around like he normally would.

✦✦✦

_ Sully. Mornings (Reliant on Rotation). Cooking. _

Kellam’s next task wasn’t far from the birds, since it was in the kitchen. Considering the army and who all was in it, they had listed out who all would be doing cooking during certain times of the day. Today was Sully’s turn. Which everyone actually looked forward to, because it was always different. Sully made a wide variety of items from soup to eggs to other items.

However, Sully was a terrible cook.

Kellam had seen the woman burn water. Literally. The pot was aflame and by the time a mage it out and they asked what happened, Sully only said that she’d tried boiling water for some noodles they’d been given by a nearby village. To this day, the mystery was unsolved. However, her food had been getting better and better for an unknown reason. Most of the camp accepted that it was probably due to her getting cooking lessons in secret. Sully was stubborn enough to not want to lose, and nobody was going to call her out on it, either.

Kellam looked at the list, just seeing who was going to be cooking the rest of this week.

_ Virion, Robin, Chrom _

_ Cherche, Vaike, Ricken _

_ Henry, Tharja, Gregor _

_ Gaius, Donnel, Stahl _

_ ... _

Kellam looked it all over, but silently turned back to the ingredients. He shouldn’t have even gotten his hopes up, anyway. It was incredibly selfish of him to do so, anyway.

They had some buns from a baker they’d saved, and some leftover meat from the last hunting expedition that Vaike had headed. Quite a few people had gone, and they’d actually managed to take down a wild boar and some deer. Kellam looked over the meat and the buns and proceeded to check to see if there really was enough for everyone, and there was. A few were starting to get stale, which indicated more that people liked to give the Shepherds things more often than that they had done something to save the town -though the latter was more frequent than the former. People knew the group and liked feeling as though throwing random bits and pieces of food at the army was helping.

Kellam stroked his chin, then went deeper into the food stores. He rummaged around, and finally found it. The cheese he had been working on would probably be ready today. Pulling out the wheel, the took a small chunk to taste test it and nodded. The sharp cheddar taste made the several day wait worth it. Not to mention his wallet happy in spite of the cost of that cheese press.

He left the food storage tent and began in earnest. His first task was writing down on paper his plan for breakfast. Essentially, it was to make the buns into tiny cheese and meat sandwiches which could be put onto the fire in large enough batches that nobody would have problems with a shortage of food. The variety of meat could meat more variety in rations for the soldiers, and the simplicity of the recipe meant that even Sully couldn’t mess it up. He arranged everything in plain sight as well as portion out a few sets of cheese and meat for sandwiches to make things go smoother.

That task done, he began to leave the tent. However, Sully was a few minutes earlier than usual today, because the two nearly collided.

“Oh! I’m sorry, Kellam. Didn’t see you there.” Sully said.

“Oh, it’s no problem."

Sully watched him leave, eventually he disappeared behind a tent and breaking her eye line. She could’ve sworn that this had happened before. Still, she had kitchen duty and even if someone had been helping her out in the morning with easy recipes and prep, she would need a minute to cook those items properly. She grabbed the cheese and the paper left behind by the kind stranger who seemed to know how to best give directions for her style of cooking so that she wouldn’t poison the army. Again. She’d never been good at this sort of finer work and doubted that she’d ever get as decent as she was at it without the help of this mysterious... stranger.

“Wait... was it... nah,” Sully said, her tone uncertain. “But... maybe... how did I never notice?”


	2. Gaius. Mid-morning. Effervescent.

_ Gaius. Mid-morning. Effervescent. _

Effervescent. Robin had said the word meant ‘bubbly’ or ‘enthusiastic’. Kellam wasn’t sure what Gaius had meant the last time they’d talked about ‘Effervescent Tea’, but... tea filled with bubbles? And since it was Gaius the thing would be loaded with sugar. Kellam enjoyed morning tea like others, but frankly this was going to be new. Gaius had noticed the extra cup last time, and after some prodding to remind him that Kellam was there, Gaius invited Kellam to tea... for the fifth time this week.

Still, this time was special because Gaius had recently located this ‘Bubbly Tea’. Which promised to be... well it promised to be something. Kellam would let Gaius have first sip, though. Just to be safe. 

One never knew much about whatever new candy or sweet item that Gaius had recently learned about, and inevitably it was always going to be more sweet than anything people usually ate in the army. To say it was that the promise of something sweet that lured Kellam to tea time this early in the morning was a lie. Kellam always had a sweet tooth, but he had never allowed himself to succumb to it because of his family's finances. Sweets were a thing that they could rarely afford, and asking for them became more and more of a guilty pleasure than something that was just what it was.

It became a symbol of his selfishness, and every time he had baked something sweet, he had handed off to someone else. Usually, Gaius. Which was probably the reason that Giaus stuck around. Chrom didn't really seem to usually give the man candy, but perhaps this was just something that happened when Kellam wasn't around. It wasn't like Kellam knew when payday was, his just automatically defaulted to being sent to support his family. He'd never gotten a reply back from them in some time...

They probably just forgot about him. That wasn't that unusual.

Walking up on Gaius sitting at a table he'd pulled from the mess hall tent, Gaius turned towards Kellam.

"Hey, I almost forgot we were supposed to meet today. Sorry about that," Gaius apologized. "But the tea's ready. I hope you like it sweet, I uh... sort of already added some sugar to it."

Kellam felt it again. Like with Sully earlier, he didn't need to remind them that he was there. Which is strange, but sometimes he just had better luck getting people's attention than others. So it wasn't too strange to think that maybe Gaius had simply remembered.

"Oh, no worries," Kellam replied. "I hope you weren't waiting too long. I had to help out in the kitchen."

“Huh? I thought that Sully was on kitchen duty today,” Gaius asked, but he shook his head. “Then again, anyone who can prevent Sully from committing war crimes in that tent is welcome to be there in my book.”

Kellam nodded sagely. He still remembered the last time Sully had been let loose in the kitchen unsupervised. Kellam would never look at eggs in the same way again. Nor would he take it for granted that they would be shell-free.

Gaius noticed the shudder and suppressed one of his own, using the tea as a distraction. “Come on, we have tea that’s cooling and losing bubbles. Let’s move on to more... pleasant memories...,” Gaius paused. He didn’t have a nickname fresh and ready at hand. However, he was sure he’d given a nickname to everyone in The Shepherds. Even if all of them didn’t quite know it yet.

“What’s wrong?” Kellam asked, picking up on the trailing sentence.

“Oh nothing. I just... did I give you a nickname?” Gaius said. He shook his head. He could have sworn that Kellam had been around far longer than he had. So... how did Kellam get missed? Thinking back on it, he must have had tea with Kellam before. “I know everyone else has one.”

“Everyone?”

“Yeah, Robin is Bubbles. Tharja’s Sunshine. I feel like I’ve given you one... but I can’t remember what.” Gaius stared hard into his tea.

Kellam took a sip. The bubbles were nice and the tea itself was sweet. However... the tea was hot and sticky. It felt more along the lines of drinking tar than anything else. Kellam suppressed the urge to spit it out and instead suppressed a grimace as he swallowed it.

Gaius snapped his fingers. “Noisy! That’s what it was.”

Kellam cocked his head to the side, silently asking why.

“The nickname I had for you. Cause you had the... armor... and were... covered in clanking metal.”

"I suppose that makes sense. But I'm still somehow quieter than you in all my armor..." Kellam shook his head.

"Hey I'm only good for one thing in this army so don't go looking for my job." Gaius jokingly drew his tea spoon in a threatening manner.

Kellam played along and threw his hands up, surrendering to the deadly spoon. However, he was saved from further "tea drinking" when he heard the signal for breakfast. Sully had probably taken a little longer to cook than usual, but Kellam didn't mind. At least he didn't have to remind Gaius that they were meeting for tea today. It was all in all, pretty nice.


	3. Lucina. Noon. Cataclysmic.

_ Lucina. Noon. Cataclysmic. _

There were no skirmishes today, so it was quieter than usual around camp. The Risen were also quiet and had apparently also taken a day off. Which is something that put the camp on edge regardless of how few enemies were around. 

The Risen were mindless, and didn’t really sleep. If it was quiet around the border of the tents, then that meant that there would be a flood of them later. No doubt followed by more of Grima’s loyal followers. And nobody was more on edge than Lucina. Kellam had always noticed that she tended to stand out at the edge of the camp more and more when things looked quiet. Her hand on these days never even left the hilt of Falchion. So on these days he’d pull out the sweets he’d stashed previously for times like these. This was less of a daily routine, but happened often enough that Kellam always kept a few on hand. She liked the ones shaped like bears most of all.

Today, Lucina was standing guard outside of Chrom and Robin’s tent. No doubt because of the awful future Lucina had foretold. That all the children who had fled here had said. Every one of their stories was just as tragic as the last. Kellam always listened, though. Always knew the stakes if they failed. Maybe just as much or more so than Chrom and Robin.

But he always listened, because the children always seemed better off after talking to him. Regardless if they remembered they had ever spoken, Kellam hoped that lending an ear would mean something.

“Hey. I brought cookies,” Kellam said, carefully trying to be as loud as possible so that he wouldn’t spook an already on edge Lucina.

She still turned quickly and had her sword halfway out of its sheath before she realized that he wasn’t a Risen. “Oh. Kellam, right?”

“Yep. I figured that you could use some help on guard duty,” Kellam smiled peacefully. “Also, don’t tell Chrom or Gaius, but I like eating sweets on guard duty. Makes it less boring.”

Lucina smiled, almost laughing, but not quite. Lately, she’d been doing that more and the hard shell had faded. “You don’t have to, it’s quiet tonight. The scouts haven’t found a single Risen within fifty feet.”

“Yeah, but I always find myself a little more on edge on these nights in particular, you know?” Kellam lied. “Besides, two heads are better than one, right?”

Lucina nodded carefully. She went back to scanning the nearby trees.

Kellam sat down on a nearby box, carefully going through his bag for the bear shaped cookies. He picked out the most smushed one and held it out to her. “I’m sure the Risen will let us eat one cookie apiece.”

Lucina tore her eyes away from the trees for a moment. She was torn between continuing her vigil and taking the cookie. Eventually, her sweet tooth won out and she took the ugly bear cookie.

“Did you have sweets in your time?” Kellam asked, not taking any cookies for himself.

“We had barely enough rations. No point in wasting flour if it can make bread.” Lucina said, and took a huge bite of the cookie. She ate like she was running out of time. Always quick and efficient. Kellam had seen it back on the farm, when things got really bad. “Plus, nobody really wanted to waste time baking at the end of the world.”

“That’s really sad,” Kellam said. “Grima took so much from you. Even the little things. I’m sorry that you had to grow up like that.”

“I got used to it. It doesn’t bother me.”

Kellam couldn’t see her face, but the way she said it was mechanical. A response from a leader who didn’t want anyone else to know how much it hurt. He saw that on Chrom’s and Robin’s faces fairly frequently.

“Doesn’t mean that it doesn’t matter that you had to go through all that. It can be sad and also a source of strength. Just don’t let it wear you down all the time.” Kellam held out another cookie, and Lucina took it wordlessly.

“I don’t want anyone to feel sorry for me. I want them to stop Grima. The future that I come from cannot pass. Ever.” Lucina remained facing away from him, but her royal upbringing allowed her to remain clearly heard. “It doesn’t matter if I have a cookie now, if I’m not at my best, Grima wins.”

Kellam nodded, and she continued on.

“I don’t know how they can all be so carefree. Just the other day, I saw Owain put on his weird show for some village kids. Just kept shouting out nonsense. He believes it too. I ask him to train, but we spent most of our time just planning out new attack names. I disarm him every time.” Lucina held out her hand for another cookie.

“Maybe that’s how he copes. He pretends to be this mythic figure. In his mind, as long as he does his best, of course we’ll win.” Kellam considered this possibility and was willing to believe that this was the cause of that delusion.

“Yeah, but he’s younger than me. He didn’t learn all of what I learned during the war. And that’s... ‘war isn’t fair’.” The bitterness in her voice cut through the sweetness of the cookies that she’d been eating.

“Maybe then... He’s trying to make it less full of suffering,” Kellam said. “I mean, how many times have we all laughed at his antics, or he’s been the first to help put a village back together?”

Lucina didn’t reply.

After a long time passed between the two of them, Kellam continued, “nobody’s saying that you’re not doing enough to prevent your future, Lucina.” 

Lucina stiffened up, but still didn’t say anything.

“Lucina... you don’t need to bear it all on your shoulders. You have everyone here to help you. Let the Risen be silent for a day. You'll come back tomorrow well rested and prepared for them.”

They didn’t need to say anything else for the rest of the time, quietly passing cookies and eating them. Passively watching the trees as they swayed quietly in the wind. Lucina didn’t rest her hand on Falchion again.


	4. Chrom. Afternoon. Soft.

_ Chrom. Afternoon. Soft. _

Kellam’s next chore was less about the person and being the person in the background who moved the cogs that needed moving. Bedrolls were common amongst the army, but Chrom and Robin strangely had small cots. Robin could be caught sleeping around the camp, but Chrom seemed to sleep only in a well fluffed bed.

Must just be the perks of royalty, Kellam guessed. Small comforts for them were still a wild luxury for him. He wondered what it’d be like to sleep on such a soft bed, but while they were an army on the march, it was unlikely.

Frederick would often be out fluffing the mattress for the crown prince, which meant that Frederik wouldn’t be wandering the camp. By now, most things were done, but Kellam still liked to take the weight off of Frederik.

Or at least, that was the plan.

"Oh, hello Kellam. What are you doing?"

Kellam stiffened up. He wished he had his armor at this moment, right now he felt naked. 

"I was on patrol. Want to join me?" the cheery nature of Chrom was identifiable across the camp. Kellam wondered what it was about today that made him stand out so much.

"Ah, Your Majesty. I was about to sew up holes in tents, and other tasks like that. You don't -"

"I'll join you!"

Ah. Kellam should have known. Chrom was not a 'sit back and let others work' type of noble. He was going to try everything. Regardless of how good he was at it.

"Ah," Kellam said, regretting his lack of spine, "we should hurry before Sir Frederik finishes fluffing your bed."

The two quickly moved away from the force of cleaning that was Frederik, hoping that he wouldn’t notice. Kellam was nearly caught by Frederik once, which was disconcerting, but Kellam was only wondering what kind of day he was having.

However, the two slipped successfully away... eventually.

“Haven’t you ever...” Chrom said, gesturing at Kellam. “Had to actually sneak around? I think you once told me that you were just naturally that quiet.”

Kellam was surprised the king himself remembered anything Kellam said from the start of the war. That had to have been months... no at least a year ago.

"Uh... Kellam?" From asked after his question went unanswered.

"Oh. Uh, people really don't remember what I tell them. I'm," Kellam paused, "I didn't think the ruler over my homeland would remember something I mentioned in passing."

"I'd be a terrible ruler of I didn't!" Chrom laughed, which nearly got them caught by the vigilant eye of Frederik.

The next few moments were more of a comedy of errors than actual escape, but it was more like they were just two young boys escaping a nanny than an unworthy, invisible peasant and the king who was going to save the world from a dragon made of evil and hate.

Kellam laughed with breathless joy at the revelation. He did not complete his usual task that day.  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next: 
> 
> Robin night sweet


	5. Robin. Night. Sweet.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Home is more than just a place to lay your head.

_ Robin. Night. Sweet. _

Once the sun set, it was time to settle in. At least, that was the case for most of the Shepherds. However, Kellam knew better than to go to sleep right now. Now was when Robin needed him most. She’d stay up late at night to plan for tomorrow, unknown to most of the troops. 

Most, but not all.

Kellam had long since included Robin into his rounds, even at risk of lack of sleep, because she usually tried every strategy possible to keep everyone safe.

He knew that she’d literally throw herself into danger before letting any of them get hurt. Before today, he never understood why she and Chrom worked so well together, but now he knew that both of them cared deeply about their troops.

However, his routine remained the same. He had prepared a sweet roll and some hot chocolate. It was Robin’s favorite, and a good comfort for a long night. He was carrying the tray over when Robin said, “mm. Put it there.”

He nearly upended the tray from shock. He rarely received any acknowledgement of even being there, much less that he was holding something.

“Oh! I didn’t mean to startle you, Kellam,” Robin apologized. “I just- I thought it was- oh never mind.”

Kellam put down the tray and sat across the table from her, shaking his head. “It’s been a bit of a strange day, hasn’t it? Suddenly, I’m not as easily missed as usual... haha..”

“Is that such a bad thing, though?”

Kellam was quiet as Robin reached for a bit of his roll, and on reflex he pushed the tray towards her. Robin was perplexed, but accepted the offer.

“Well, you always look so surprised when you find that next to you in the middle of the night. I don’t really want the credit, I suppose,” Kellam said slowly, as if he were mulling over the words. “Just to know everyone is happy.”

“Mmmmftoo,” was Robin’s response around a mouthful of sweet roll. she quickly gulped it down and repeated, “me too.”

Kellam laughed. Robin as serious one moment, and a glutton another.

“See? I want to protect that. It’s literally all I’ve ever known, this war. So if I can keep everyone happy, that’s fine. But I’m the second in command. Everyone notices when I enter a room.” Robin then took a sip of the hot chocolate, smiled, then started chugging it.

“You really have to stop gulping your food you know...” Kellam said.

“But you can just go around camp doing... whatever! Heck, I managed to track almost all of your work today and I never really noticed how much you do. Sully’s cooking is edible! Drinking that terrible tea with Gaius. Comforting Lucina, and I saw you running through camp with Chrom earlier.”

“All of that are little important comforts. We are at war, have been for a long time now. But nobody is broken down or suffering. I can’t do that.” Robin looked down the empty mug. “I can only do the big picture things. Who does what when we fight and where the enemy is vulnerable.”

“But we’d all be dead if someone else was doing that. I’ve seen Virion play chess. He... He’s...” Kellam shuddered.

“Yeah. We had a few matches. I lost nearly every time.” Robin said, also shuddering at the memory.

Kellam took the tray, standing up.

“Hey Kellam, you matter too. Even if we can’t always notice it, you keep this camp feeling like home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more to go and oh boy is it gonna be tough. Tharja's mad, guys.  
Let's just say: Robin isn't the only one who noticed his actions today.


	6. Tharja. Night. Angry.

Tharja was displeased as she watched Kellam leave the mess hall tent.

How dare he not look as upset as she had pictured him looking. That was... that had to be illegal. He was  _ smiling _ ! Who permitted that while he was under a curse? Tharja chewed her sleeve to keep the impulse to yell obscenities at him to a minimum.

He didn’t even do anything really different today. Maybe skipped one whole chore, but... he was supposed to be crying by now.

“You!” Tharja yelled at Kellam. “You’re supposed to be miserable!”

Kellam looked around first, then pointed at himself.

“Yes, you!” Tharja was almost feral, leaning over her hiding spot in a tree. She pointed forcefully at him, “You’re supposed to be miserable!”

The action unbalanced her just enough that Tharja started to tip forward, and she overcorrected and ended up starting to fall backwards out the tree.

Kellam was waiting, arms outstretched, to catch her. Her actions seemed odd, and the tree wasn’t really a steady place to lose your mind.

“Are you okay?” Kellam asked.

Tharja reacted like a cat visiting a vet, becoming a ball of cloth and claws in an instant, upset by this turn of events. How dare he hold her like... like... that! She was no princess and would never be treated as such. She was a force of dark arcane will and curses incarnate.

So Kellam dropped her on the ground.

Tharja writhed in pain and anger for a moment, clearly upset at both being dropped and also that Kellam was not miraculously miserable.

“Everyone saw you! So why aren’t you miserable? You blend in to hide, right?”

“No?”

“What?!” Tharja screeched.

“Did you... curse me or something?” Kellam asked, extending a hand. It was soon swatted away by Tharja’s clawed hand.

“Of course I did!” Tharja started chewing her thumb. “You mean you didn’t even notice?”

“Oh, I thought people were just more observant today.” Kellam yawned and started to walk casually towards his tent.

Tharja spluttered, unable to fathom the moment she had just experienced. “I’ll- I’ll never lift the curse, you know! Everyone will know what exactly you do for them every day. You can’t keep getting away with it!”

“Getting away with... what exactly. Cooking for the camp? Sewing holes in tents? That’s... awful? Well, it’s late and I have a lot to do again tomorrow.” Kellam said, watching Tharja like a child throwing a tantrum.

“Ah! I remember what you did to me now,” Tharja said suddenly. “You reorganized my Robin shrine. You... you... monster.”

“Well, your handmade figure fell, so I picked it up and put it back but the whole thing was so cluttered, so I just hung up the drawings and adjusted the other figures so they wouldn’t fall again.” Kellam explained.

“Those were in an organized chaos. Besides that, I can’t find my-”

“Oh those herbs you use for curses, I put all of those into a cabinet. Mirel and Ricken also offered to help look for some for you, I noticed you were low on some basic ones.”

Tharja turned blue from sheer rage and confusion.

“I’ll make your curse worse! I’ll... I’ll... Make everyone’s heads turn to see you when you enter a room. You’ll never know your weird anonymity again!” She finally sputtered.

Kellam shrugged as he kept walking away.

Tharja finally stood up and dusted herself off. That man was so... ugh. She was too tired to deal with him at this moment, but she would curse him good later. As she shuffled off to her tent, there was a small bundle of herbs and a note.

_ You were low on mugwort, so we spent the day collecting some. Let us know if you need anything else for your spells. _

_ -Miriel & RICKEN _

Ricken had written his name in a strangely archaic way that made it hard to read, but Miriel’s was so perfect that it looked almost inhuman. Tharja crumpled the note and hissed as the herbs. However, she took them into her tent, because she did need some more. She’d used up the last of it cursing Kellam-

Stupid jerk.

She went by her Robin shrine to check if anything had fallen, because usually there was something-

Stupid JERK.

She put the herbs away, folding them into her empty jar, which was now clearly labeled.

_ Stupid jerk. _

As she settled down to bed, Tharja thought that maybe... she should just leave the curse as is... he really would start suffering later.


End file.
